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Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Class Review: Speedflex

The best workouts are those you can do in good company. Sometimes I find myself booking a class just to meet up with a friend for a natter. But sometimes who you can take is limited, especially if your fitness or strength levels don't quite match – you probably couldn't bring your returning-to-gentle-exercise mum to the same class your hardcore CrossFit-nuts friend swears by.

Enter Speedflex, a studio that offers workouts based around a resistance machine that only gives what it takes. Give it hell with powerful guns and it'll pile on the resistance. If you're only just discovering you even have the muscles to move the machine, it will resist to match your efforts. Ultimately, you could have Mr. Universe on one side, granny on the other, and they'll both be working proportionally as hard as each other.

How could you tell? During each class, everyone wears a heart rate monitor that tracks your efforts during the class. This data is linked to screens in the studio, which display the percentage you're working at. The idea isn't to compete (although I'm sure some have) but to try and work your body at different rates for a certain length of time throughout the class. The harder you work, of course, the more rewards you'll reap.

This place is all about the numbers. Before your first Speedflex class, you'll be taken through an induction where you get a taster of the machines but also have things like your muscle mass, fat percentage and even your state of hydration measured. After a few weeks of training, you can have this all measured again and look at black and white results.

And you certainly will be seeing results, Speedflex works you hard. The classes use a circuit system, where you'll work for short sharp bursts on each exercise, working every inch of your body. Before you know it, in a 45 minutes class, you've done countless reps of at least 12 different drills.

It's the type of workout that would have you aching for days afterwards. Sure enough, the next day I hesitated before inevitably stiffly rolling out of bed...but there wasn't a sore muscle to be had. Because the machines offer no impact and carefully administer the correct resistance, you will apparently never ache after a session. I definitely won't miss walking like a penguin the day after a good sweat.

Bring your mum, gran and fitness-mad friends, your induction and first class is free. For more information on Speedflex, click here.

3 comments
:

It looks like an awesome idea but I am not sure I agree with their statement that you'll never get DOMS/next day muscle soreness - next day soreness is caused by micro trauma to muscle fibres caused by eccentric muscle contractions. Eccentric muscle contraction is part of most moves; including under resistance; and isn't dependent on impact at all. There's sometimes some impact- associated soreness w exercise but it really should be a minimal part of the next day soreness.

As for why you didn't get soreness? Could be you're fit enough that it just wasnt that hard for you!

This looks really good to get young minds interested in the idea isn't to compete (although I'm sure some have) but to try and work your body at different rates for a certain length of time throughout the class. The harder you work, of course, the more rewards you'll reap. Good writing.